Wild Hillbilly Jungle (Days 50-52)

Eastern Kentucky is how you Reno folks might imagine Sun Valley to be if Sun Valley were more poor, and spread along the road through a dense forest. It feels like a land without rules. There are abandoned houses, abandoned cars, abandoned fires, abandoned piles of trash, abandoned semi-trucks, abandoned dogs, and abandoned children. People talk real slow. Many are missing teeth. Most people sit on their porches and watch you ride past, how they support themselves I have no idea. There aren't farms or large business, just coal mines and logging trucks. This is a strange, weird, charming, and beautiful land.

Day 50:
Colby and I took a shortcut to save some time, hit the library in Hindman, and got to Bardstown, Kentucky fairly early (57.5 miles). Due to lack of camping availability Colby and I decided to split a motel. We then proceeded to defeat the buffet across the street, where I ran into Mike again (who had gone off-route for a bit). That night, I decided to run some errands and like a fool went without my headlight and almost got annihilated by a driver that wasn't paying attention. It was a nice reminder to be more careful, which I have been ever since.
Day 51:
Lodging was limited so Colby and I narrowed our options down to an 84 mile day off-route to get to a town with a Warmshowers.org host. The shortcut saved us around 30 miles, and ended up having some decent shoulders to ride on. Arrived in Berea, Kentucky in the afternoon and then waited a bit for Rose McCallum (our host) to show up. While waiting, I contacted Dee and found out he was at the hospital there from taking a fall. I visited him and turns out he hurt his arm pretty good, but was going to continue. I'm glad you're okay Dee. Colby and I got some pizza, Rose came home, and we got cleaned up and hung out for a while. Rose was very friendly, had some awesome dogs, and was kind enough to let us stay even though she had just moved. Thank you Rose, you rock!
Day 52:
Again, or lodgings were limited so Colby and I did a 51 mile day to Booneville, Kentucky to stay behind a cyclist-friendly church there. I realized immediately after leaving Berea that I was in a strange new place. The day started with a decent climb, the biggest since Colorado, then dropped into what I referred to above as "Eastern Kentucky." Upon arrival, I had lunch with some fellow cyclists touring for charity. Cool guys. The church had a pavilion for us to camp under and a cold shower to refresh ourselves with, rock on (though the pastor did have his shirt tucked into his underwear, hanging out the top of his belt. I had to try pretty hard to keep from bursting).

Just a typical view from the road.

Uh?